The Chair to provide a verbal update on Charnwood House and lead a discussion with Members.
Decision:
The Chair provided Members with an update on the work being done at Charnwood House and led a discussion regarding this.
Minutes:
The Chair provided Members with an update on the work being done at Charnwood House, including:
· The public engagement exercise had taken place, with 19 interested parties following the expression of interest period. Of the 19, five had returned the documents completed within the deadline.
· Of those five groups, three wanted to work alongside North Herts Council on transforming Charnwood House into a community hub. The other two expressed an interest in using part of the transformed building.
· There had been exemption for business rates secured for Charnwood House, which could save the Council just under £16,900 per annum, if unoccupied.
· Plans over the next 2 to 3 months included commissioning an asbestos survey and consulting on further expressions of interest in investing in a community hub.
· Over the next 6 months, it was hoped that, following the aforementioned actions taking place, a presentation could be made to Council to seek a decision as to how to proceed.
· Further public engagement can still be made outside of the public engagement exercise timeframe.
Councillor Keith Hoskins noted it was good to see the building finally empty and the rates relief applied. There were some hopes that, following the outcome of the asbestos survey, some part of the building could be used temporarily until further development works begin.
Councillor Sam Collins advised that is was possible to section the building and parts could be used, while other parts still have the rates relief applied.
The Chair invited Bernard Eddlestone, Chair of the Charnwood House Association, to provide Members with an update, including:
· The progress to date had been slow going and there was a need to get on. It was 20 months since the Association submitted a detailed report to Council and it has not moved forward, with no funding, either external or Council, allocated at the moment.
· If a charity group ran the building then the rates would not apply.
· The Association would be interested to hear the views and opinions of the groups who have made submissions to find ground where they could work together.
· Capital funding would be required to put the building into a reasonable shape.
The following Members took part in the discussion:
· Councillor Nigel Mason
· Councillor Sam Collins
· Councillor Ian Albert
· Councillor Richard Thake
Points raised in the discussion included:
· The detailed survey commissioned by the Association had found there were one or two areas where asbestos may be and that £10,000 should be reserved to deal with the issue.
· The building had signage advising of asbestos, so it was definitely present, but needed to understand where it was and how much of it.
· The plan remains to reset the building so it can be brought back into use and while it may seem little progress is being made, some delay is normal and there is a lot going on behind the scenes.
· The refurbishment is set to be to such a substantial degree that it would be impossible not to disturb any asbestos.
· Some issues faced regarding Charnwood House are the same as those with the work at The Dell. It’s important to understand how to work with outside organisations and put governance in place to oversee this.
· Council would need to identify funding, but it would not be able to afford to do this along, and third parties would need to be sought to make up financial deficits.
· As a short term action, the notice boards around the building could be used to display what is being done to the building as this area benefits from high footfall. This space could be used to advertise for the Charnwood House Association AGM on the 19 July.